St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright wants their triple loss to Celtic to be taken in context as the Perth side bid for a top-six finish.
Saints have lost five matches in a row, three of them in quick succession to the champions with the most recent a chastening 5-0 defeat at Parkhead in the William Hill Scottish Cup last Sunday.
Wright is keen to stress that the McDiarmid Park side remain in sixth place in the Ladbrokes Premiership as they prepare to play second-placed Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday where the home side will be without suspended striker Alfredo Morelos and goalkeeper Allan McGregor, while attackers Jermain Defoe and Kyle Lafferty are injury doubts.
The Saints boss told SaintsTV: "Obviously it is not a great run we are on but to have to play Celtic three times in a short space of time hasn't been ideal and it has to be taken in context.
"We can't let those three defeats against Celtic determine our season because that would be extremely disappointing if we let that happen.
"We are strong enough as a group to overcome these recent results. We have to focus on the next game and try to get as many results between now and the last game before the split.
"We are still in a good position in the league, we have eight games to try to get enough points to cement our place in the top-six.
"We know it is going to be a difficult game. Rangers have been really good at home, they have improved immensely from last season and can quite legitimately be called title contenders this season.
"Steven Gerrard's got them closer to Celtic and he has a squad full of top-class players.
"I know Morelos and McGregor will be out but Defoe or Lafferty or both, are excellent replacements for Morelos and shows the quality they have got and (Wes) Foderingham is a top class goalkeeper so it will be a difficult game.
"But we have to make it as difficult for Rangers as we can. We know we can win there, we have done it in the past but again we need to defend well, be brave on the ball because we know that when we keep the ball we can get up the pitch and cause teams problems."
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